News

Police make arrest after manhunt in Midtown

Palo Alto police used four K-9 units -- including one from Los Altos and one from Sunnyvale -- to apprehend a man who had allegedly violated a restraining order and threatened a woman in Midtown Palo Alto Thursday night, police said.

The incident started around 4:45 p.m. when officers responded to the report of a restraining order violation in the area of Colorado Avenue and Middlefield Road, Sgt. Brian Philip stated in a press release.

The victim reported to police that the man had called her several times in violation of a court order and was "attempting to physically locate her," according to Philip.

"During the conversations, the suspect criminally threatened the victim, causing her to be in immediate fear for her safety," Philip stated in the release.

Police located the suspect, identified as East Palo Alto resident Tyrell Walker, 20, in the area but he quickly fled. Police chased Walker on foot until he started climbing fences into the rear yards of homes west of Middlefield Road, Philip stated.

Police set up a perimeter and brought in the four K-9 units, with two from Palo Alto, to begin a yard-to-yard search. Walker emerged from a yard in the 2700 block of Kipling Avenue and continued to evade police. At about 8 p.m. Walker was found by a Palo Alto K-9 team in a backyard in the 400 block of Colorado Avenue, according to Philip. Walker tried to run again but was "quickly apprehended by the police canine."

Walker suffered minor injuries and was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail in San Jose after getting medical treatment. He was booked on charges that included violating a restraining order, resisting arrest and making criminal threats. He was also booked on an unrelated outstanding felony warrant for auto theft, criminal threats, dissuading a witness, vandalism, hit and run, and a court order violation, according to police.

Posted by Book-em-Danno!
a resident of Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Dec 2, 2011 at 11:07 am

With all of the outstanding warrants, why hadn't the EPA Police already apprehended this young man, and had him securely in the "slammer"?

The only place for people like this is under lock and key. It's a shame that some defense lawyer will end up bilking the tax payers thousands of dollars to get this man off--ensuring that his "rights" are not violated.

I too appreciate the response from the police in this case (which may or may not, as I read it, involve domestic violence; e.g., it could have been job related).

However...

I live very close to where this happened and saw the police cars all around the area. There was an officer at the corner of Kipling and El Dorado as I passed, so I stopped and asked what was happening. The officer, politely enough, said just "I'm just doing my job" and motioned me to move along. I would have appreciated more: "stay in your house, make sure your doors are locked, report anything suspicious immediately" -- that sort of thing would have been helpful. The suspect could literally have been in my back yard.

Posted by Cowper resident
a resident of Midtown
on Dec 2, 2011 at 1:38 pm

I live in Midtown as well. During the incident, a police officer came to my door, told me they were searching for a suspect who might be in the area, and asked me to stay inside my house. He was extremely polite, despite what must have been an extremely chaotic few hours.

I join in celebrating the quick and efficient action taken by our local police units to protect this woman... and, as it turns out, protect a much larger slice of society as well.

Now, I ask my fellow Palo Altans... which of these noble public servants --- who risked their lives last night saving ours (they had no certainty that the perp was not packing and violent) --- does not deserve a decent salary, benefits and a retirement guarantee that can't be pissed away by mismanagement elsewhere or by Wall Street shinanigans? I ask because just a couple of months ago, the overwhelming opinion in these comment sections was that our public servants are lazy and coddled and should be replaced with "for hire" private services.
I obviously disagree with that opinion, and the kind of voting that followed in its wake this past election, so once again, I marvel at our town's split personality when it comes to people who work for us.
$100+K for some new town superviser or consultant, but that same or similar amount for a cop or fireman, never! (That is, until it's your skin they are pulling out of the fire!)
Oh upper-middle America, so arrogant in our cluelessness!

Posted by fo sho
a resident of Barron Park School
on Dec 5, 2011 at 1:41 pm

palo cops are going after black men who arent criminals. theyre trying to eliminate people from society! thats nazism! alert aram james. theyre getting worse than lynn johnson, thyre not just stopping to ''get to know you'', theyre dragging you off the street for questioning! what is up with that??

Posted by Two cents
a resident of Adobe-Meadow
on Dec 5, 2011 at 1:57 pm

I guess fo sho missed the part about how this suspect had warrants and committed a bunch of new crimes that day. He was a criminal and the cops were doing exactly what they are supposed to do which is arrest criminals.

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